There have been proposed game systems of various types: a system built up by electrically connecting an electronic device exclusive for home use and a television (TV) monitor; a commercial-based apparatus such as an arcade game machine; and a system consisting of a personal computer or a work station combined with a display device and an audio output device. No matter what type the game system may be, the game system comprises a controller manipulated by a player, a recording medium in which game program data and game data such as video data and sound data are recorded, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) for controlling generation of sounds and images based on the game program data, a processor for processing image data, a processor for processing sound data, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) for displaying images, and a speaker for outputting sounds. As the recording medium, a CD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, and a cassette type memory in which a semiconductor memory is internally provided are mostly used. The arrangement of the game system is as mentioned above.
As the number of the types of the game systems is increased, the number of the types of games played by the game systems is also rapidly increased. Further, the content of the game becomes complex and is varied greatly. Recently, a game called "War Simulation Game" has been proposed. The content of the war simulation game is such that an army (or troops) belonging to one country (imaginary country) simulatively fights a battle against an army (or troops) belonging to another imaginary country in an imaginary world on a display plane of a TV monitor based on information such as the number of combatants in the army belonging to each of the countries, a manner of fighting, and an arrangement of the troops to determine the winner (country). In such a war simulation game, generally, two game players (or one player and a CPU) participate in the game, i.e., combat each other on the game system. In the case where the game is played by two players, it is necessary to electrically connect two game machines to be mutually communicable. In the case where the game is played by one player and the CPU, one game machine is necessary.
The following is a description as to how to play the game. Game participants (i.e., two players or one player & the CPU) are assigned with a turn in a certain order to act, i.e., to give a command to his/her/its troops. When the turn (hereinafter, referred to as a "phase") is assigned to one player, he is allowed to give a command to the troops of the country assigned to himself to initiate a certain operation in a game space.
When a command "ATTACK!" is given to the troops, the troops attacks those of the opponent country in the game space. The manner of attacking the opponent troops is displayed on the display plane in an animated manner according to lapse of time, and the displayed states, i.e., the current statuses of the respective armies are stored as a numerical value and updated according to lapse of time. This numerical value is used as a factor to determine the winner and also as a parameter for display of a status of the army which is described later.
Generally, in a battlefield defined in the game space, plural troops are arranged as an army belonging to one country, and each of the troops belonging to the same country can individually act during a phase assigned to the game player. The troops (or army) who finished a certain operation in the phase cannot act in the battlefield until the game player is assigned with his next phase.
When the game player is assigned with a phase, displayed is a window image which enables the game player to give a certain command to the army belonging to the game player. In the case where two game systems are electrically connected, the window image is displayed on a display plane of display means of the game system which is used by the game player assigned with the phase. In the case where the game is played by one player and a CPU, only one game system and one display means which are used by the game player are necessary since there is no need of displaying the window image for the CPU.
There are two types of commands: command messages which are directly related to a battle such as "ATTACK!" and "DEFEND!"; and information indicative of a status of the army such as "COMBAT ABILITY", "NUMBER OF COMBAT INCOMPETENTS", and "WINNING POSSIBILITY".
In the above game system, when it is the opponent's turn to play the game, i.e., the opponent game player is assigned with the phase, the game player who is not assigned with the phase (or non-assigned game player) has nothing to do but looking at a displayed image that his army is attacked by the opponent's army. Accordingly, there is a necessity to keep amusing the non-assigned game player in some way during the phase of the opponent's game player.
In view of the above, it is an object of this invention to provide a command input method and a recording medium which can provide a game player with a more pleasant game environment by keeping amusing the game player even while the game player is not assigned with a phase.